Rotating bottle closing machine

ABSTRACT

A rotating bottle closing machine provided with elevation adjustment for capsulation of bottles of different heights comprising a frame, a vertical shaft held against rotation carried by said frame, a driven main hub rotatably supported in the frame, rotatable about the axis of said vertical shaft and provided with a screw thread, an auxiliary means held against rotation relative to the vertical shaft and provided with a guiding track, an auxiliary hub also rotatable about the vertical shaft supported by said auxiliary means and provided with a screw thread cooperating with the screw thread of said main hub, whereby the elevation adjustment is carried by turning the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub, closing spindles for the bottles to be capsulated supported from said guide track, and lock means to fix the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub.

United States Patent 1 van der Meer [4 1 Jan. 2, 1973 [75] Inventor: Leonardus Petrus van der Meer,

Roelofsarendsveen, Netherlands [73] Assignee: N.V. Leidsche Apparatenfabriek,

Leiden, Netherlands [22] Filed: March 16, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 124,996

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 8, 1970 Netherlands ..70l8308 [52] US. Cl. ......53/331.5, 53/317, 53/368 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65b 7/28 [58] Field of Search ..53/331.5, 368, 329, 317, 201

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,9l5,067 6/l933 Meyer ..53/368 X 2,160,992 6/l939 Thomas ..53/368 X 2,097.383 10/1937 Riemer ..53/368 X l,3l0,960 7/1919 Oliver ..53/368 X Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-l-lorace M. Culver Attorney-Fleit, Gipple & Jacobson [57] ABSTRACT A rotating bottle closing machine provided with elevation adjustment for capsulation of bottles of different heights comprising a frame, a vertical shaft held against rotation carried by said frame, a driven main hub rotatably supported in the frame, rotatable about the axis of said vertical shaft and provided with a screw thread, an auxiliary means held against rotation relative to the vertical shaft and provided with a guiding track, an auxiliary hub also rotatable about the vertical shaft supported by said auxiliary means and provided with a screw thread cooperating with the screw thread of said main hub whereby the elevation adjustment is carried by turning the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub, closing spindles for the bottles to be capsulated supported from said guide track, and lock means to fix the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub.

7 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a rotating bottle closing machine provided with elevation adjustment for capsulation of bottles of different heights.

It is an object of the invention to provide a rotating bottle closing machine having a large elevation adjustment which may be realized by only a few mechanical actions, and being of a strong construction. The inventive rotating bottle closing machine comprises a rotatable, driven main hub supported in a frame. The main hub is rotatable about the axis of a vertical shaft held against rotation relative to the frame, and is provided with a screw thread cooperating with a screw thread of an auxiliary hub, also rotatable about the vertical shaft. The auxiliary hub is supported in an auxiliary means held against rotation relative to the vertical shaft and provided with a guiding track for the closing spindles for the bottles to be capsulated. The elevation adjustment is carried out by turning the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub, and means are provided to fix the auxiliary hub against the main hub.

When the main hub and the auxiliary hub of the bottle closing machine, according to the invention, are rotated relative to one another, the capsulation height is adjusted easily and since both hubs are screwed into each other, they form a strong unit, when the main hub after the adjustment of the elevation is fixed against the auxiliary hub. The combination of the hubs together with the vertical shaft, preferably slidable in the frame, allows a strong, good working construction.

A preferred embodiment of the rotatable bottle closing machine according to the invention is characterized in that the auxiliary hub may be rotated relative to the main hub by means of a mechanism comprising a bevel gear wheel fixed to the auxiliary hub, the axis of the bevel gear wheel coinciding with that of the vertical shaft. The bevel gear wheel cooperates with a bevel pinion fixed to a horizontal shaft located substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis, whereby said horizontal shaft may be served from outside. This construction has the advantage that the mutual relative rotation of the hubs and, accordingly, the adjustment of the height, may easily be carried out from the outside of the machine.

A further preferred embodiment of the rotating bottle closing machine according to the invention is characterized in that the means to fix the auxiliary hub against the main hub comprise a key fixed in one of the hubs, and receivable in a groove of the other hub. This construction allows a strong blocking of the two hubs relative to each other, which blocking may quickly be released by simple mechanical actions and may be restored quickly after the height adjustment.

The presence of the horizontal shaft may be used advantageously for driving the supply machine for bottle capsules, and a further advantageous'embodiment of the machine according to the invention is characterized in that the horizontal shaft is provided with a transmitting means in order to transmit the motion thereof, during normal working of the machine, to the supply machine for bottle capsules. The advantage of driving the supply machine for bottle capsules in this way is that when the bottle closing machine stops, the bottle capsule supply machine is stopped too, so that an accumulation of capsules between the machines is avoided.

When the capacity of the machine is changed (changing its rotational characteristics) rotation of the capsules supply machine is changed as well. The transmitting means comprises preferably a chain wheel fixed to the horizontal shaft, driving a chain wheel of the bottle capsule supply via a chain.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be discussed on the basis of the sole FIGURE of the drawing in which a preferred em-' bodiment of the invention is illustrated.

As shown in the drawing, the rotating bottle closing machine comprises a (partially shown) frame 1 having mounted thereon axially (slidable, but held against rotation) a vertical shaft 2. This vertical shaft 2, which as illustrated is a bar with a square cross section, but also may be a rod with a different, non-circular cross section, for example, an I-cross section, extends or reaches to substantially the top or upper side of the bottle closing machine. At the upper end, a cap 3 is fixed to the vertical shaft 2. Around the periphery of the cap 3, a cam track 4 is provided, in which a number of cam rollers 5, connected with associated closing spindles 6, can move. The closing spindles, which are not subject of the present patent application, are well known and hence not further described. The cam track 4 has a high part (left side in the drawing) where the closing spindles are out of action, so that in this region, uncapsulated bottles can be supplied, and capsulated bottles can be removed. The cam track has also a low part, where the closing spindles can'be guided downward in order to carry out the capsulation action of the bottles (right side in the drawing).

A set of two hubs is provided around the vertical shaft 2. One of them, the main hub 7, is supported by the frame by means of a bearing 9, while the other, the auxiliary hub 8, is supported by the cap 3 by means of a bearing 10. The hubs 7 and 8 are screwed together by means of screw threads 11 and 12. The main hub 7 is provided with a bottle carrier 13 for the bottles to be capsulated, which may be brought in line below the spindles 6. The auxiliary hub is provided with a driver means 15 for rotation of the spindles 6 together with the bottle carrier 13 about shaft 2. Rotation of the spindles 6 themselves is necessary for the capsulation and is produced in this embodiment by a rim of gear wheel 16 connected to the cap 3, and cooperating with a toothed part 17 of the closing spindles. I

The height between the spindles 6 and the bottle carrier 13 may be varied by turning the hubs 7 and 8 with respect to each other. For this purpose, the auxiliary hub 8 is provided at its upper end with a bevel gear wheel 18 having an axis coinciding with that of the vertical shaft 2. The gear wheel 18 cooperates with a bevel pinion 19 rotatable about a horizontal axis and fixed to a horizontal shaft 20 supported in the cap 3. The outer end of the shaft 20 is providedwith a six-angled (hex) wall 21, so that the shaft may be driven easily with a screw (hex socket) wrench from the outside. By tuming the shaft 20 by the wrench and holding back the bottle carrier 13 (which is automatically done by the driving mechanism of the machine), the height can be adjusted.

The two hubs 7 and 8, which may not rotate with respect to each other while the machine is working, may be fixed to each other by means of a key 22, which can slide along a bolt 23 fixed to the auxiliary hub 8. The key 22 may be fixed by means of a six-angled (hex) head 24 screwable about the bolt 23. A handle 25 is fixed to the key 22 in order to allow it to be withdrawn from the keyway groove or slot 26 provided in the main hub 7.

Adjustment of elevation may be carried out as follows. The head 24 is unscrewed until the key 22 may be withdrawn from beyond the keyway 26 of the main hub 7. By rotating the shaft 20, during which the bottle carrier 13 is held back by frictional resistance in the driving mechanism of the machine, the hub 8 rotates about the hub 7 along the screw threads 1 l and 12, so that the auxiliary hub 8 is elevated, taking along with it the set of spindles 6 and the shaft 2. When the desired position is reached, the key 22 is inserted back into the keyway 26 and fixed by the head 24.

The horizontal shaft 20 is further provided with a chain wheel 29 driving a chain 30 which, in turn, drives a chain wheel 31 of a bottle capsule supply machine (not shown). During normal working of the bottle closing machine, the horizontal shaft 20 rotates, and this motion is transmitted to the bottle capsule supply machine via the chain wheel 29, the chain 30 and the chain wheel 31. Thus, when the bottle closing machine is stopped, the bottle capsule supply machine also stops. The bottle capsule supply machine not described here may be, for example, a capsule positioning machine delivering the capsules in predetermined equal positions to the bottle closing machine. Instead of the chain transmission, other suitable transmissions may be used, for example, a toothed belt transmission.

The bottle closing machine is further provided with the usual protection cap 27. Furthermore, the machine comprises a driving mechanism for driving the two hubs 7 and 8, and by them, the whole machine. Driving is realized through a toothed wheel 28 mounted to the main hub 7.

Although the invention has been shown and described in terms of a specific preferred embodiment, nevertheless, changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention. Such are deemed within the purview of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotating bottle closing machine provided with elevation adjustment for capsulation of bottles of different heights comprising a frame, a vertical shaft held against rotation carried by said frame, a driven main hub rotatably supported in the frame rotatable about the axis of said vertical shaft and provided with a screw thread, an auxiliary means held against rotation relative to the vertical shaft and provided with a guiding track, an auxiliary hub also rotatable about the vertical shaft supported by said auxiliary means and provided with a screw thread cooperating with the screw thread of said main hub, whereby the elevation adjustment is carried out by turning the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub, closing spindles for the bottles to be capsulated supported from said guide track, and lock means to fix the auxiliary hub relative to the main h ub.

A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary hub may be rotated relative to the main hub by means of a mechanism comprising a bevel gear fixed to the auxiliary hub, the axis of the bevel gear wheel coinciding with that of the vertical shaft cooperating with said bevel gear, a bevel pinion and a horizontal shaft located substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis carrying said bevel pinion, whereby said horizontal shaft may be served from the outside.

3. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 1, in which the lock means to fix the auxiliary hub against the main hub comprises a key fixed in one of the hubs and a keyway defined in the other hub into which said key is receivable.

4. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 2, in which the horizontal shaft is provided with a transmitting means in order to transmit the motion thereof, during the normal working of the machine, to the supply means for bottle capsules.

5. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 4, in which the transmitting means comprises a chain wheel fixed to the horizontal shaft, a chain wheel defining the operative driving part of the bottle capsule supply means, and a chain drivingly coupling said chain wheels.

6. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 1, including a bottle carrier for the bottles to be capsulated carried by the main hub.

7. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 6, including means for rotating the closing spindles together with the bottle carrier about the vertical shaft during capsulation of bottles. 

1. A rotating bottle closing machine provided with elevation adjustment for capsulation of bottles of different heights comprising a frame, a vertical shaft held against rotation carried by said frame, a driven main hub rotatably supported in the frame rotatable about the axis of said vertical shaft and provided with a screw thread, an auxiliary means held against rotation relative to the vertical shaft and provided with a guiding track, an auxiliary hub also rotatable about the vertical shaft supported by said auxiliary means and provided with a screw thread cooperating with the screw thread of said main hub, whereby the elevation adjustment is carried out by turning the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub, closing spindles for the bottles to be capsulated supported from said guide track, and lock means to fix the auxiliary hub relative to the main hub.
 2. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary hub may be rotated relative to the main hub by means of a mechanism comprising a bevel gear fixed to the auxiliary hub, the axis of the bevel gear wheel coinciding with that of the vertical shaft cooperating with said bevel gear, a bevel pinion and a horizontal shaft located substantially perpendicular to the vertical axis carrying said bevel pinion, whereby said horizontal shaft may be served from the outside.
 3. A rotating bottle closing machine according to cLaim 1, in which the lock means to fix the auxiliary hub against the main hub comprises a key fixed in one of the hubs and a keyway defined in the other hub into which said key is receivable.
 4. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 2, in which the horizontal shaft is provided with a transmitting means in order to transmit the motion thereof, during the normal working of the machine, to the supply means for bottle capsules.
 5. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 4, in which the transmitting means comprises a chain wheel fixed to the horizontal shaft, a chain wheel defining the operative driving part of the bottle capsule supply means, and a chain drivingly coupling said chain wheels.
 6. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 1, including a bottle carrier for the bottles to be capsulated carried by the main hub.
 7. A rotating bottle closing machine according to claim 6, including means for rotating the closing spindles together with the bottle carrier about the vertical shaft during capsulation of bottles. 